fan art

and the Winner is....

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..................AMAL!

From the moment I saw this entry in the email inbox, I knew it was a contender. It encompassed everything that I hoped this contest would be, from the early brainstorming stages to the final presentation. I can see the process involved, yet it isn't overwhelming and excessive in it's information. She stuck to the contest outlines, and came up with a great entry. I look at them as a triptych, but really, it's the Doppelganger idea that is the true winning entry. It has this mysterious "how would that look in 3d" feel to it that keeps drawing me back to it, as if my mind is trying to solve the puzzle of how to make it. I love working out projects, and I sense that with this piece.

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The 7 runners up will receive special gifts from me, while the 2nd and 3rd entries will receive even more special gifts, but the grand prize of the nude doll goes to Amal for her beautiful, thoughtful, and challenging submission. The grand prize doll will be a variation of a Lily doll.

THANK YOU to everyone who entered, I loved all the entries. I've been going back and forth through them all day and I am still amazed at all the great ideas. Congratulations are in order for everyone, as you all came up with very creative ideas. I'm already looking forward to the 4th annual contest next year!

Once again, Congrats to Amal!

The top Three candidates to win a doll

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Valentine by KarolinFelix

I liked this one when I looked at it, but became really intrigued by the idea of a transparent filigree torso, once I read the proposal. This hadn't occurred to me before. I like how the artist addressed the practical issue of the fragility of porcelain given such a narrow waist, but proposing that it's made entirely of metal. I want to make this doll!

by AmalI love this project not as three separate entries, but as a triptych. They are most effective not separately, but together. The most intriguing is the idea of capturing the idea of time travel and non-linear perspective within one doll. I think It's a very challenging concept to address, and a very ambitions one to propose. I would love to see more cards in this series!

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amal

by MauraI adore this entry for the beautiful rendering of Anne Boleyn and the rendering of the idea of her being the mother to Queen Elizabeth the Great through a gorgeous tattoo. I particularly like the creative solution to the clothing vs tattoo conflict:

  one usually has to exist at the expense of the other, but in this piece both function together as a whole. The top ten candidates all displayed a completeness that I look for in the entries: An interesting, coherent idea, effectively articulated and combined with a beautiful presentation, originality and emotion. It was very hard to choose, and I wish I could  make twenty winners instead of just one, because there are many good proposals.

These are the top three that really speak to me, but who will be the winner?

I'll decide by midnight. That's all I've been doing all day. :)

Top Ten Candidates

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Seven more runners up in the contest

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Here are seven more runners up in no particular order. Including the winner and the second and third entries, there are 10 favorite gifts all together. I really didn't know when to stop choosing favorite entries, I wanted to include them all on this list, but I realize that editing was really necessary. There are so many more that I love for different reasons, but here are some of the reasons I love these entries.Enchanted Doll Rag Doll, inspired by Lily.andrew-entry1I made dozens of little rag dolls when I was a kid, but never one as big as this one. It's so playable. Perhaps I'll make a costume for Raglily one day. Thanks, Andrew!Concubine inspired, human scale costume. eva-s-entry1What can I say aside for pretty awesome? This was clearly a lot of work. And I can really appreciate time consuming, attention to detail oriented projects. The jewelry is mine, by everything was made by the contestant. Thank you, Eva!Little Bearsandra-entry1This petite, articulated bear stole my heart. I have never particularly liked stuffed toys, but I've grown really fond of this one, so much so, that I sleep with it on my pillow. I named him David Bowie, for some reason. I think it has a soul.  Thank you, Sandra!Shadow box for Enchanted Dolljayne-w-entry3The craftsmanship is very pro. I love containers of all kinds, and this one is museum quality. Interchangeable inserts were provided, which allows me to keep my own, precious collection of Enchanted Dolls in there, under the glass. Four dolls can easily fit in side by side. Right now, I keep my first 4 resin prototypes in there. It looks, oh so nice. Thank you, Jayne!Almost edible, miniature cakecontest-1195This little cake is so delicious and realistic-looking, that I almost ate it. Explaining this to the paramedics would have been awkward. It is embellished with Enchanted Doll imagery and decorative elements: logo, tattoo, bows, bead embroidery and a Lotita fan that says happy birthday Marina! Very, very intricate work. Thank you, Kelly!Little Rubber Stampstrish-entry2I like this project because carving is not easy, and this contestant has managed to carve very small, soft rubber blocks with a surprising amount of detail. The application of the idea is interesting and creative. These inspired me to create a secondary Enchanted Doll logo. And now Chad is going a little crazy and stamping them on everything in sight. sigh..So, thank you for that, Trish. No, seriously, thank you.A poem about being an Enchanted Doll collectorelsThis poem provides an interesting insight into the emotions of an Enchanted Doll admirer/fan/owner. I get so wrapped up in the demands of the creative aspect of Enchanted Doll, that sometimes I loose touch with the feelings of those who end up owning my work. At times of prolonged detachment, this poem will remind me to work even harder to make even more beautiful dolls for you, Enchanted Doll lovers. Thank you, Els!Thank you all: those who made it in the top 10 and those who didn't. I love it that you took the time to make things. Thank you!

All the contest entries can be seen here

Enchanted Doll Birthday contest-gift opening

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bday-1096This is the best Christmas ever!Uhm, I mean Birthday- it's the best Birthday ever! Feels like Christmas though, since I've never gotten so many birthday gifts.I wasn't going to open the entries until the contest deadline of March 13th, but then I thought about it and realized that we would never be able to process, document, judge and display all the gifts on the website in only three days! Therefore, I had decided to begin opening them now, 2-3 gifts a day so as to not get totally overwhelmed when it comes time to choose the winner. Yeah, sure it would have been awesome to open them all on my birthday, but I don't think it would be fair to contestants because I wouldn't have time to do it properly all in one day. So, my birthday came early this year and will last for two weeks as I open new surprises every day.The gifts are beautiful. I'm loving them all, but I'm already wondering what I've gotten myself into, because I will somehow have to choose the best one......it will be a very, very tough call. I almost wish I hadn't started the contest just so that I wouldn't be in this position of having to choose only one winner out of so many fantastic entries.My 28th birthday continues....best birthday ever!

"The precious punishment of the young lady and her addiction"

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This painting was done by Elizabeth Lacunza, from Spain. It was inspired by my work, i'm told. The reason i post it up here is because i'm really flattered by the fact that other artists find my work inspiring. It's an honor. It's a little bit surreal, actually, to see my work interpreted by another's hand. It transcends its original purpose and meaning to become something else. But also beautiful.I believe she is doing a series of doll-based digital paintings and look froward to seeing more of her work.

Serendipity

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Deer Girl by Natalia PierandreiThis painting was made by a very talented Italian artist Natalia Pierandrei. According to her it was inspired by my dolls. I definitely want a print of it for my house.It's interesting the way Nati and I met.Serendipity is a good way to describe it. Three or maybe four years ago i found her work by chance in a compilation book of fairy artists. I thought it was some of the most amazing contemporary art i've ever seen and she instantly became an inspiration of mine. I checked out her website faithfully every week and was so infatuated with her artwork that I began emulating it with my own.Her painting had a fundamental impact on my style.It became a part of it actually as my own artwork matured and became what it is today. I absorbed it into my bloodstream and now it lives within me and is therefore a part of every porcelain doll i make.I wanted to write her for years and say how much she influenced the course of my genre, but i couldn't bring myself to do it for some reason. I didn't want to sound lame, I guess. Until one morning a couple of months ago; I was checking my email and was still half asleep when i saw this strangely familiar-looking name in my inbox. I opened the email and discovered that this person wanted to order a doll. And as i sleepily stared at the name trying to figure out how i know this person...........my eyes suddenly widened in disbelief and i was instantly jerked awake by the realization of who it was that wrote this email. To me. And then i squealed with joy while biting down on my knuckles for about 5 minutes. And then bounced around my bedroom for a while. I responded to her by taking and emailing pictures of my sketch book with her prints glued in there. And we were both going:" Oh, my, God...."Nati said that she'd been admiring my work for quite a while herself and that it actually, actually inspired her work in turn........I couldn't believe it. We were cross-inspiring each other's artwork without even knowing it! Our work was already present in each other's......styles. It just blew my mind.We became instant friends and now we're working on a book together. I'm hoping to visit her in Rome soon and meet her in person. I would love it if she visited me in Vancouver.I think the reason some artwork resonates with and inspires us more than other is because on some level it was always a part of our being, but we weren't able to consciously articulate it in our minds. Like an unspoken truth that we can't put our fingers on, but know nevertheless. So when we find something that inspires us, it's as if a lost piece of our soul is coming home and making us whole.Please check out Nati's site: http://www.nati-art.com/Perhaps it will have the same impact on you as it did on me.